A painted bronze pot has been unearthed from a cluster of tombs in central China's Hubei Province, marking the first discovery of painted bronze from a dynasty which existed about 3,000 years ago. Researchers are still excavating the Yejiashan Graveyard in the city of Suizhou - believed to have been used to bury the lords of the Zeng State during the early Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BCE).
     Over 1500 bronzes, pottery works and lacquered items have been unearthed from the tombs. Zhang Changping, a professor at the School of History at Wuhan University, said the discovery of the pot will help researchers better understand changes in aesthetic preference that occurred during the dynasty.
     The Yejiashan Graveyard was discovered in 2011 - one of the most important archaeological findings in China that year.

Edited from Xinhuanet (9 July 2013)